Astro IPO to raise $1.5 billion as Malaysia listings flourish

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Pay-TV firm Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd will raise about $1.5 billion by selling shares at the top end of a marketing range, as privatization schemes and economic growth cement Malaysia’s position as Asia’s top destination for IPOs this year.

Astro, controlled by Malaysia’s second-richest man Ananda Krishnan, priced the IPO at 3 ringgit per share, implying somewhat rich valuations, although analysts expect it to continue Kuala Lumpur’s strong run of share debuts when the stock lists on October 19.

The deal will boost Malaysia’s 2012 IPO tally to about $7.3 billion, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all new listings in Asia-Pacific and well up from about $1.8 billion in Malaysia in the same period last year.

Analysts are betting on a strong debut, helped by Astro’s market dominance and the strong demand for the offer, which drew 16 cornerstone investors including U.S. hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM.N).

“We do see the potential in the company, especially given its unofficial monopoly control over the Malaysia pay-TV market,” said Kong Heng Siong, an analyst at OSK Research in Kuala Lumpur.

“I do expect the opening price to be higher than 3, just looking from the demand itself ... If you talk about the overall IPO market, most of them have done fairly well, so I would expect a similar performance by Astro.”

It is expected to be Kuala Lumpur’s last major listing this year, however, with no big IPOs on the horizon until next year’s planned $1 billion offering for independent power producer Malakoff Corp Bhd, 51 percent-owned by MMC Corp Bhd (MMCB.KL).

Astro, with a near-monopoly in Malaysia’s residential pay-TV market and a subscriber base of 3.1 million, is retuning to the public markets after it was privatized in 2010.

At the offer price, it will have a market value of 15.6 billion ringgit ($5.1 billion), nearly double the 8.3 billion ringgit it was worth when it was privatized.

MALAYSIA DEFIES GLOBAL GLOOM

Malaysia has defied market gloom elsewhere that led several IPOs to be pulled, with robust economic growth stoking interest from a captive domestic investor base and global fund managers.

Eight of this year’s 12 Malaysia IPOs are trading in positive territory, with the largest offerings, Felda and IHH, up 14.3 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.

Astro is expected to continue that trend, with one Kuala Lumpur-based analyst forecasting the stock would rise more than 6 percent on its debut. The analyst asked not to be identified.

The institutional portion of the IPO, or 20.8 percent of the total, was more than 30 times oversubscribed, the company said. Portions were also reserved for retail investors and ethnic Malay investors, or “bumiputra”.

“On a price-to-earnings (PE) valuation basis, we do find the issue price of 3.00 ringgit per share rather expensive as it would translate to a PE of 32 times based on FY2013 estimated earnings per share,” Kuala Lumpur-based TA Securities said in a note.

“However on a longer-term basis we believe the premium is justified due to Astro’s dominant position within the industry, expected double-digit bottom line growth, and decent bottom line margin for the next five years at least.”

TA values the stock at 3.53 ringgit per share, without any recommendation.

Astro will use the proceeds from the listing to repay bank loans, for capital expenditure, working capital and listing expenses, the prospectus showed.